Any help with "Rosaura a las Diez" by Marco Denevi?

Question

My Spanish class is reading it. I can understand most of it, but some things are beyond my knowledge. I don't want to cheat (i.e. read the English version), but I would like some assistance.

Answer 1

Hola giraffetalk,

Rosaura a las diez,¿eh? I wonder if your teacher is from Argentina or has lived there. I am asking this, not only because Denevi was from there, but also because the only two people I have ever heard talking about this writer were from Argentina....anyway.

I can help you in 3 ways:

1. If I were you, I'd rent the movie. It has been shot with the same structure as in Rosaura; each chapter narrated by a different character:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0572907/

2. I can tell you about some of main events/ characters in the story:

In chapter one, Doña Milagros loses her husband and is left with a hostel. These are difficult times and the widow, and her three daughters, have few lodgers; some of whom go without paying or even worse who want to turn the hostel into a cavern.
A new lodger, Camilo Canegato [sound like cara de gato; 'cat face' or come gato; 'cat eater' that's why Doña Milagros laughs later when she hears the name] ,enters the story making a good impression on the widow and daughters. This good impression disappears when they learn that Camilo Canegato is an artist.

3. More about the rest of the chapters here.
You will appreciate this because it is in Spanish...so need to worry about cheating:
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos22/rosaura-diez/rosaura-diez.shtml

Answer 2

It's not cheating to read the English version in such circumstances. I would recommend that you do so. Once you don't have to grapple with the story line, you can concentrate on the vocabulary and syntax. The purpose of reading this book, after all, is to improve your grasp of Spanish and enjoying great literature is a secondary consideration (although such enjoyment is not being threatened by tackling things in this way).

Answer 3

I wouldn´t consider it cheating.

Here is a link where the book is discussed:

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=76962124